The app lets you keep tabs on friends, set your status, and initiate voice or video calls (along with traditional instant messaging). Calls can be taken on either the front-facing or rear camera, and in a pinch can make calls to folks on cell phones without ooVoo installed. The app works over 3G just as well as Wi-Fi, though if you’re doing video, you might appreciate the extra bandwidth Wi-Fi has to offer. Of course, calls can be made through the desktop ooVoo apps for Mac and Windows as well.

Skype remains the de facto standard for video calling and VoIP, but there’s plenty of room for competition, especially ones that are tackling mobile as agressively as ooVoo is with 6-way chat. Of course, it’s hard to imagine a call like that being practical (or useful) on such a small screen, but I could see it working fine on the iPad or any other large-screen device.

If you’re interested in trying it out, ooVoo is available for free in the iOS App Store below.